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No Marlins listed in Mitchell Report

No Marlins listed in Mitchell Report

MIAMI -- Several links to the Marlins' past, including a couple of standouts on the club's 1997 World Series title team, were identified in the Mitchell Report, which was released on Thursday.

No current Marlin was disclosed.

Two prominent members of the '97 title team, outfielder Gary Sheffield and pitcher Kevin Brown, were listed. And the Report details an incident where steroids were discovered in the locker of former Marlins pitcher Ricky Bones in 2000.

Some other players who wore a Marlins uniform, either during the season or in Spring Training, who were mentioned in the Report are: Paul Lo Duca, Benito Santiago, Josias Manzanillo, Gregg Zaun, Ron Villone, Matt Herges, Ismail Valdez, Chad Allen and Armando Rios.

While Sheffield and Brown were stars on the Marlins' first World Series title team, they both have been out of South Florida for a long time. Sheffield was with the club from 1993-98, while Brown's stint with the team was from 1996-97.

The Marlins declined comment on the Mitchell Report, deferring to responses from Major League Baseball.

The findings of former Sen. George Mitchell's 21-month investigation concerning use of performance-enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball were released at 2 p.m. ET Thursday.

Several high-profile, superstar-caliber players were among those named in the Mitchell Report, the product of a multimillion dollar investigation that could shape decisions, prompt punitive actions against active players, and usher in the next era of the sport.

Free agent Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte of the New York Yankees, Miguel Tejada of the Houston Astros, Eric Gagne of the Milwaukee Brewers and Lo Duca of the Washington Nationals were among the most prominent former and current All-Stars to be mentioned in the lengthy report, which spans 311 pages, plus multiple exhibits, including evidence of signed checks, handwritten notes and shipping receipts.

The players listed in the paragraph above are by no means the only players listed in the report, but in MLB.com's initial review of the document, those names stood out by their notoriety. Our coverage will continue minute-by-minute through the course of the proceedings and for the foreseeable future thereafter, but the entire report is available for viewing here at MLB.com.

While the Report detailed drug use in baseball by naming those accused, it also contained 19 separate recommendations for the sport to move forward from this point, proceeding after a culture of steroids and performance enhancement grew exponentially in the late 1990s.

The Mitchell Report named both Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association in assigning blame, charging leadership -- from the Commissioner to club owners and general managers -- for allowing the issue to proliferate.

Underlined in the Mitchell Report is an incident that took place in the Marlins' clubhouse in late June 2000. A clubhouse attendant, the report says, brought a paper bag that was in Bones' locker to the team trainers. The bag contained more than two dozen syringes, six vials of "injectable medications," two anabolic steroids, and a page of handwritten instructions on how to administer the drugs.

Bones, now employed in the Mets' Minor League system, was interviewed by the Mitchell Report investigators. He acknowledged the incident and explained that he had been self-administering steroids and painkillers "pursuant to prescriptions that he obtained from a physician in his hometown in Puerto Rico." Bones then had a degenerative hip condition which caused him to retire. In 2003, the pitcher underwent dual hip replacement surgery.

The incident was eventually brought up to then-Florida general manager Dave Dombrowski, and it was brought to the attention of the Commissioner's Office and Players Association. Bones was subjected to a "reasonable cause" urine test several months after the incident. Eventually, the matter went away out of concerns it could lead to more "reasonable cause" testing.

Joe Frisaro is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.